When University of Georgia football coach Mark Richt fired three defensive assistants after the 2009 regular season, two resurfaced quickly.
Defensive coordinator Willie Martinez became the secondary coach at Oklahoma and linebackers coach John Jancek took the same job at Cincinnati, but defensive ends coach Jon Fabris opted for a break. After turning down Louisville’s defensive line opening several days after accepting the job, Fabris stayed away for 18 months until jumping back in last week as defensive line coach at Northwest Mississippi Community College.
“My nine years in Athens were the most I’ve ever spent in one place,” Fabris said. “My wife and I certainly liked it there and wish we could have stayed. I tried to stay there, but you can’t eat dirt after a while.
“This is not some kind of script that you would write out. It wasn’t like I dialed in on the Mississippi junior colleges. It just kind of happened.”
Fabris accepted the offer at Northwest Mississippi after coming up short for the head-coaching vacancy at Division III Sewanee, where he was among five finalists.